Coffee Colloquy
5th November 2024Mansion House
The outgoing Lord Mayor has been holding a series of Coffee Colloquys to discuss various topics relating to various UN Sustainable Developments Goals.
This one related to SDG12 Responsible Consumption and Production, and as it had an Engineering Element within it, I thought it would be a good one to go to and see how the event worked.
Hosted by Alderman Alison Gowman, who has responsibility for all things environmental and sustainable within the City, the panel were mostly drawn from the relevant departments at UCL, but with some speakers from the Green Alliance and Newnham Council.
Each member of the panel spoke in turn, before the discussion was opened up to the audience.
As is always the case with the difficult subject of Sustainabilty, the statistics that are quoted about how much we overconsume and therefore contribute to the destruction of the planet are extremely depressing. Most people's reaction is to try and disappear down a hole and not think about it!
It was clear from the research work done, particularly by members of the panel, that recycling "stuff" that we acquire is not very efficient or effective. Repairing or reusing a washing machine is much better for the planet than buying a new one, but of course in reality it is much cheaper to buy a new one than get in the repair technician, so we buy the new one!
It was therefore interesting to discuss how companies could change they way they operate so that they make more money from spares and repairs rather than selling new stuff, but the entire economy needs retooling to allow products and buildings to be designed to be easily dismantled or repurposed.
Of course, the biggest problem is getting society as a whole to move away from being a "consumer" society!